By Betty Njoroge
When the pastors in Mombasa asked for guns so as to protect themselves after two pastors were killed in unclear circumstances, I knew faith in the Christian God had reached rock bottom. For a group of people who constantly preach on the benefits of heaven they are quite unwilling to reach the pearly gates. Maybe the reason they feel such a strong need to shoot at the devil is because of what they owe him.
It’s just hypocritical by the way, that clerics of one faith will demand protection only after their own die. When Muslim clerics were killed in an extra-judicial execution that set off riots, all these Christian religious leaders did was condemn the burning of a church. They never demanded JUSTICE for the dead. This is an ingrained attitude of sheer selfishness.
As if that was not enough, the National Council of Churches of Kenya now is backing the calls for a one year deferral in the cases against Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto at the International Criminal Court, and possibly more deferrals after that. The NCCK claimed the reasons for deferrals as possible scenarios where the President and his Deputy are both out of the country at the same time, or a situation where either one or both could be convicted and that could lead to instability in the country.
When it comes to speaking up for justice, these are not the voices you will hear. These voices speak for the sake of the regime of the day, and are interested only in the retention of that regime. There are over 6000 cases related to the post election violence in 2008 and still no church, preacher, pastor or “man of god†has demanded justice to be executed in those cases.
What we have in Kenya is dearth of morality, and our religious leaders are the blank space between man and god where that morality should have been. All of a sudden, after campaigning, holding public prayer rallies, endorsing and praising the two suspects, our preachers suddenly remember that if the ICC trials go on, both of them will be tied up at The Hague for extensive periods of time.
Speaking of prayers, never once was a prayer rally held on behalf of the 1300 people who died. Never once was a memorial service held, or words of condolences given to the bereaved. It is no wonder that they will not speak of justice being served in Kenya for the victims.
You have to wonder what little value the parishioners hold for these church leaders. After all, it is not the NCCK who were killed in Kiambaa church, but the church goers. It is not the NCCK council leaders who were massacred in 2008, but those faithful who professed Christianity, of course not forgetting the people of other faiths who were killed as well.
I am sure the 600,000 people displaced during the conflict called out to God as they ran for their lives. I am sure that every day, those IDPS all across the country, from Kisii, Migori, Nyanza, Mombasa and Rift Valley areas all pray that God one day will seek Justice and punish their tormentors. I am also sure that these Pharisees are determined that despite those prayers no real justice will be served because it does not serve their political interests.
Let’s face it; the ICC is indeed a political court. What is wrong with a court being political after all? Is it not true that we have cases currently being tried at the ICC because Kenya made a political decision to “Go to Hague, not be vague� Weren’t the crimes committed due to politically instigated and planned violence? Are not the three suspects charged for political reasons of being the “Most responsible�
A political court is what you need to try politicians who believe themselves above the law in their own countries. When the religious leaders demand a deferral for political reasons, then they are simply declaring that politically, the politics they ascribe to are higher than the politics of JUSTICE.
It is abject hypocrisy. It is people-loathing, sadistic politics, where by the politician is placed higher than god’s people and the shepherd helps the wolf devour the sheep. I always wondered where our total lack of humanity stems from and it looks like it comes straight from the pulpit.
There is no doubt that what is being tried at the ICC is not just our own failure as a nation to stabilize our society and strengthen our judiciary, but what is also at trial is our morality and dignity as people. We must come to realize that without a single moral voice in this country to speak against injustice, that what is at trial is not the politician’s perverse sense of “sovereignty†but our own self worth, our own humanity and our leaders’ INHUMAN nature. God is watching you, preachers!
Read more of Betty’s blog posts HERE